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Assessing Beginning ELL Students
Level One: Preproduction Students are in the''' '''Pre Production Stage of English- their speaking & understanding is limited to a few words and phrases. The emphasis at this stage is on developing their listening skills. Stage I: The Silent/Receptive or “Preproduction Stage:” This stage can last from 10 hours to six months Students often have up to 500 "receptive" words (words they can understand, but may not be comfortable using) can understand new words that are made comprehensible to them Involves a "silent period"-students may not speak, but can respond using a variety of strategies including pointing to an object, picture, or person; performing an act, such as standing up or closing a door; gesturing or nodding; or responding with a simple "yes" or "no." Teachers should not force students to speak until they are ready to do so. Stage I: Silent/ Receptive (Pre-Production): What Teachers Can Do: Use of visual aids and gestures Slow speech (emphasizing key words) Do not force oral production Write key words on the board with students copying them as they are presented Use pictures & manipulatives to help illustrate concepts Use multimedia language role models Use interactive dialogue journals Encourage choral readings Use Total Physical Response (TPR) techniques Stage II: Early Production Can last an additional six months after the initial stage Students have usually developed close to 1,000 receptive/active words (that is, words they are able to understand and use) Students can usually speak in one- or two-word phrases, & can demonstrate comprehension of new material by giving short answers to simple yes/no, either/or, or who/what/where questions. Enunciate clearly, but do not raise your voice. Add gestures, point directly to objects, or draw pictures when appropriate. Write clearly, legibly, and in print—many ELL students have difficulty reading cursive. Develop and maintain routines. Use clear and consistent signals for classroom instructions. Repeat information and review frequently. If a student does not understand, try rephrasing or paraphrasing in shorter sentences and simpler syntax. Check often for understanding, but do not ask "Do you understand?" Instead, have students demonstrate their learning in order to show comprehension. Try to avoid idioms and slang words. Present new information in the context of known information. Announce the lesson’s objectives and activities, and list instructions step-by-step. Present information in a variety of ways. Provide frequent summations of the salient points of a lesson, and always emphasize key vocabulary words. Recognize student success overtly and frequently. But, also be aware that in some cultures overt, individual praise is considered inappropriate and can therefore be embarrassing or confusing to the student. Stage II: Early Production: What Teachers Can Do Engage students in charades and linguistic guessing games Do role-playing activities Present open-ended sentences Promote open dialogues Conduct student interviews with the guidelines written out Use charts, tables, graphs, and other conceptual visuals Use newspaper ads and other mainstream materials to encourage language interaction* Encourage partner and trio readings Most Successful Teaching Strategies: Total Physical Response (TPR) Language-learning tool based on the relationship between language and its physical representation or execution. Emphasizes the use of physical activity to increase meaningful learning opportunities and language retention. Language Experience Approach Approach uses students’ words to create a text that becomes material for learning Cooperative Learning Dialogue Journals Engage students in writing Students write in a journal, and the teacher writes back regularly, responding to questions, asking questions, making comments, or introducing new topics. Academic Language Scaffolding *Provide''' step-by-step process of building students’ ability to complete tasks on their own Native Language Support ELL students should be provided with academic support in their native language Use texts that are bilingual or that involves student’s native culture Accessing Prior Knowledge Using a student’s native language can be an important way to access his or her previous knowledge Culture Studies Incorporate student’s home culture in the classroom Students do research and share information about their own cultural history Realia Strategies Term for any real, concrete object used in the classroom to create connections with vocabulary words, stimulate conversation, and build background knowledge. Provides students with the opportunity to use all of their senses to learn about a given subject Appropriate for any grade or skill level. Level One Listening and Speaking Activities Total Physical Response (TPR) with basic commands TPR with pictures, forced choice or individual selection response to commands or questions Read stories aloud with picture clues Complete cartoon strip dialogues Listening to a story in English and retell a partner in LI Matching pictures with words Sorting and/or classifying objects and pictures Word sorts based on phonics or concepts Naming characters from stories or pictures Associate sentences to pictures Writing numbers from dictation Drawing objects from discussion Finding points on a map from oral directions Guessing names of objects from oral descriptors Labeling common objects or familiar objects in a picture Following a set of directions Reading aloud to complete a task, recipe, or art project Plotting points on a graph from dictation Completing dictated problems with/without a calculator Patterned responses using audio-lingual strategies Sequencing of events based on pictures or familiar short narrative Level One Reading and Writing Activities Sight word recognition Picture labeling Modified cloze procedures using familiar paragraphs or narratives Language experience stories using omissions, identifications or associations Sentence completion & transformation Modifications for ELL Students: Assignments and Assessments: ' '-'List steps for completing assignments. -Simplify test directions and provide examples and test items. '-'Vary the form of questions asked to allow for different levels of comprehension and participation. Include both lower and higher cognitive demand, metacognition, comparing, elaborating, synthesizing, and evaluating. '-''' Give open-note and open-book quizzes and tests. '-'''Provide word lists/banks for support; use images and clip art in activities, quizzes, and tests. '-'Give extra time for task completion. '-'Provide alternate assessments for ELL students such as oral tests, rubrics, portfolios, interviews, individual/group projects. '-'Maintain academic and intellectual challenge while simplifying language levels. '-'Use Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA): content-based language activities, emphasizing academic vocabulary, emphasizing study skills, note-taking skills, teaching learning strategies. '-'Focus on content over form; allow developmental spelling and grammar. '-'Modify traditional assessments by reducing linguistic demand, reducing number of items, simplifying grammar. Improving Listening and Speaking -Speak at a slower pace. '-'Clarify and rephrase instructions frequently (repetition) '-'Recap important ideas and highlight main points. '-'Use simpler verb tenses such as present, simple past, or future. '-'Use variety of technology, media, books on tape or CD, video, DVDs with subtitles, drawings, photos, pictures, streamed audio, chants, and music to support spoken instruction. '-'Use cooperative groups and peer support, such as group projects, corners, centers, jigsaw, think-pair-share, numbered heads, peer tutoring, reciprocal teaching, field experiences. '-'Use creative drama and total physical response techniques, such as: finger plays, pantomime, puppetry, reader's theatre, role play, storytelling, dance and movement. '-'Encourage use of bilingual support from aides. Vary Classroom Practices '-'Plan cooperative activities to include students who can translate/interpret. '-'Set clear expectations, procedures, and goals. '-'Connect lessons with student’s own culture or experiences. '-'Check frequently for understanding. '-'Avoid over-correction in errors of pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. '-'Use preferential seating. '-'Reinforce effort and provide recognition. '-'Use cooperative learning strategies. Encourage Writing -Give students opportunities to use diagrams, charts, and graphic organizers, such as: concept mapping, consequences diagrams, flow charts, I-charts, KWLH, language ladders, venn diagrams, word webbing. -Have students keep a personal vocabulary book or glossary that could also include home language translations or pictures. '-'Incorporate the use of word walls. '-'Use computer-assisted instruction, such as grammar and spelling support in word processing. Improve Writing '-'Analyze text in order to anticipate comprehension problems. '-'Provide opportunities for pre-reading activities such as brainstorming and vocabulary preview activities. '-'Help students to guess word meanings for clarification by using context clues, cognates, and knowledge transferred from the home language. '-'Model comprehensive strategies with students. '-'Divide reading passages into chunks for questions, predictions, and summaries. '-'''Use Directed Reading, Thinking, and Listening Activity (DRTLA). ***Total Physical Response (TPR) with basic commands ***TPR with pictures, forced choice or individual selection response to commands or questions ***Read stories aloud with picture clues ***Complete cartoon strip dialogues ***Listening to a story in English and retell a partner in LI ***Matching pictures with words ***Sorting and/or classifying objects and pictures ***Word sorts based on phonics or concepts ***Naming characters from stories or pictures ***Associate sentences to pictures ***Writing numbers from dictation ***Drawing objects from discussion ***Finding points on a map from oral directions ***Guessing names of objects from oral descriptors ***Labeling common objects or familiar objects in a picture ***Following a set of directions ***Reading aloud to complete a task, recipe, or art project ***Plotting points on a graph from dictation ***Completing dictated problems with/without a calculator ***Patterned responses using audio-lingual strategies ***Sequencing of events based on pictures or familiar short narrative ***Sight word recognition ***Picture labeling ***Modified cloze procedures using familiar paragraphs or narratives ***Language experience stories using omissions, identifications or associations ***Sentence completion & transformation *** Intermediate ELLS *** Advanced ELLs Category:Education Category:Teaching Category:Language